Method of packing and preserving cigars, cigarettes, and smoking tobacco



June i2, i923.

` J. T. MCCROSSON METHOD oF PACKING AND PRESERVING CIGARs CIGARETTES,AND SMOKING TOBACCO .news

ATTORNEY? Fatented de 12,.1923.

PATENT oFFic .TOEN T. MCCROSSON, OF HONOLULU, TERRITORY 0F HAWAII,ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TO EUGENE S. COCHRAN, 0F NEW YORK,.N. Y.

METHOD 0F PACKING AND PBESERVING CIGARS, CIGARETTES, AND SMOKINGTOBACCO.

Application filed October 2, 1922. Serial No. 591,700.

To all 'whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOHN T. MoCnossoN, a citizen of the United States,residing 'at Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands, have invented a new and usefuliMethod of Packing and Preserving Cigars, Cigarettes, and SmokingTobacco, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists of a novel method of packing and preservingcigars, cigarettes, smoking tobacco and other articles, and alsoconsists of a novel apparatus whereby my novel method can b e carriedout.

It further consists of novel means for exhausting the air from acontainer and of novel means for 'admitting an inert gas underatmospheric pressure into said container prior to the hermetical sealingor crimping of the edges of said container, by which means I avoid theliability of atmospheric pressure entering the hermetically sealedcontainer in case of an accidental leak therein, thus preserving thecontents of the container fresh and in their original condition.

In carrying out my invention, I preferably employ a very thin, flexiblecontainer made of tin foil, lead or other material, of such thicknessand ductility, that when the outer meeting edges of the container aredrawn together and afterwards crimped or otherwise interlocked after theair has been exhausted therefrom and the charge of inert gas has beenadmitted to the container, the

' contents of the latter will be hermetically sealed and preservedindefinitely in the same condition as they were originally packed.

To the above ends, my invention consists of the novel hereindescribedprocess and a novel apparatus for carrying out my process, all as willbe hereinafter described.

For the purpose of illustrating my invention, I have shown in theaccompanying drawings, forms thereof which are at present preferred byme, since the same will give in practice satisfactory and reliableresults, although it is to be understood that the variousinstrumentalities of which my invention consists may be variouslyarranged and organized and that my invention is not limited to theprecise arrangement and organization of these instrumentalities asherein shown and described. Figure 1 represents a sectional view of anovel apparatus wherein my novel process can be carried out, certain ofthe parts being shown in elevation.

Figure 2 represents a section on line 2-2 Figure 1.`

Figure 3 represents a sectional view of the upper portion of a casing,showing the three-way cockror valve seen in Figure 1, in the position itoccupies when the inert gas is admitted to the container prior to thehermetical sealing of the latter.

Figure 4 represents a horizontal, sectional view of the container,somewhat similar to Figure 2. but showing the sides of the container asbeing longitudinally corrugated, so as to retain the cigars inlongitudinal parallelism.

Figure 5 represents a sectional view, of the sealed container and itscontents.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawings 1 designates a tank having the sides 2, whichtank may be of circular or any other contour, provided with a closedbottom 3 and open top, which is closed by the cover 4, which may besecured to the flange 5 in any suitable manner, a suitable gasket as 6being employed between the anges 4 and 5 so as to ensure the requisitetight joint between the said flanges.

Within the tank 2, I locate the container '7 for the cigars or the like,the same being of trough shape, open at its top and provided with theclosed bottom 8, curved end .walls 9 and the sides 10, which may bestraight as seen in Figure 2, or longitudinally'tluted or grooved, asseen at 11 in Figure 4.

The bottom of the container 7 rests upon the bottom of the tank 3, andin order to retain the container and its contents in upright position, Istand the same Within a rack composed of the slotted sides 12 and thetransverse end pieces 13, which slide in the slots of said sides and aresecured in the desired position by the wing nuts or the like 14.

The ends of the side pieces 12 are provided with terminal anges 15having slots` 16 therein, through which project the studs 17, upon whichthe wing nuts 18 are mounted, it being apparent that there are four ofthesey devices as seen in Figure 2, and by looseningl the wing nuts orthe like 18, the side bars 12 can be moved towards or away from eachother, thus accommodating the racks for containers of differentthicknesses. By moving the end pieces 13 toward and away from eachother, the rack can be adapted for supporting containers of varylngsizes', as is evident.

For the purpose of exhausting the air from the tank 2 and from thelcontainer 7, 1 provide the pipe 19, which communicates with the interiorof the tank 2 and has a valve casing 20, in which is located a threewaycock or Valve 21, provided with the port 22, which extends diametricallythrough the valve and the port 23, which extends at a right angle to theport 22.

The valve casing 2O is provided with a 'pipe 24 which leads to a vacuumpum (not shown), which may be of any sulta le or conventional type, anddesignates a pipe leading into the casing 2O at an angle to the pipe 24f or conveying an inert gas under atmospherlc pressure, such asnitrogen, from a and the tank 2. When a vacuum has been suitable sourceof supply into the tank 2, when desired.

When the valve 21 is in the position seen in Figure 1, and a suction iscreated through the pipe 24, it will be apparent that a vacuum will becreated within the tank 2, there being no communication between the pipe25 created in the tank 2 and Within the container 7, the valve 21 isturned into the position seen in Figure 3,-and it will be apparent thatthe nitrogen or other inert gas is permitted to iioW at atmospheric.pressure through the pipe 25 and port 23 into the interior of thechamber 2, and thence into the container 10, which contains the cigarsor the like 26. The upper open edges of the container 7 containing thecigars 26 and the inert gas aforesaid are next folded, interlocked orcrimped by any suitable mechanism old in this art, which I have deemedit unnecessary to describe in detail, so as to be hermetically sealed soas to appear as seen at 27 in Fig. 5. The container now appears as seenin Fig. 5, and it will be evident that the cigars or other contents willbe kept fresh for an indefinite period, and the .presence of the inertgas in thecontainer will preventy the ingress/of atmospheric air, incase of injury to the container.

The container may be made of materialof sufficient thickness, so thatits sides will be unaffected by the vacuum and will appear as seen in.Fig. 2, or said material may be of such thmness and ductility orflexibility, that its sides will collapse under the vacuum and appear asseen in Fig. 4, wherein the container is shown as provided withlongitudinal corrugations 28, which serve to retain the cigars inlongitudinal parallelism.

If desired the walls of both the containers, seen in Figs. 2 and 3, mabe made of such thickness as to be una ected by the vacuum.

While I preferably 'employ nitrogen as the inert gas introduced into thepipe 25 at atmospheric pressure, any other element or gas possessing thecharacteristics of nitrogen may obviously be employed.

Having thus described my invention, what .I claim as newand desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

l. A process of packaging cigars, cigarettes and the like, whichconsists in enclosing the same in a container, exhausting the air fromsaid container, filling said container with inert gas, and thenhermetically sealing said container.

2. A process of packaging cigars, cigarettes and the like, whichconslsts in encloslng the same in a flexible container, exhausting theair from said container, filling said container with inert gas ofatmospheric pressure, and then hermetically sealing said container.

3. A process of packaging cigars, cigarettes and the like, whichconsists in enclosing the same in a fiat, flexible container, exhaustingthe air from said container, filling said container With an inert gas ofatmospheric pressure, and then hermetically sealing said container, theVolume of the charge yof inert gas being such that the sides of thecontainer will tend to lie close to the cigars, when the sealed packageis exposed t0 atmospheric pressure.

JOHN T. MCCROSSON.

C. D. MoVAY.

